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The funding will be used by the firm to transform visualisations with AI image platform for architects
July 04, 2024 | Staff Reporter | UK | Design
Gendo, an AI platform which transforms how architects and designers bring ideas and sketches to life, has raised an oversubscribed €1 million pre-seed round led by Concept Ventures and joined by Ascension Ventures, Carles Reina’s Baobab Ventures and a range of angels from the worlds of AI and architecture, including the former Global Head of Design Studios at WeWork.
Already being used in beta by a range of global architecture practices, including Zaha Hadid Architects, KPF, David Chipperfield Architects, and Benoy, Gendo is transforming how architects and designers visualise projects. Through a unique combination of generative AI models and machine learning techniques, the proprietary platform can turn designs into stunning visualisations in seconds, as well as add and edit details from scratch based on text prompts.
These visualisations are a critical component of the architecture process, often being used to help win competitive bids and move projects through the concept to construction phases. Currently, rendering beautiful visualisations and the details that populate them can take architects weeks and incur huge costs.
Founded in 2022 by architectural designer and visualiser George Proud and software engineer Will Jones, Gendo is designed to transform this process. The duo decided to build the specialised, browser-based AI platform for architecture and design after George became frustrated with the time-consuming and painstaking way of how project visualisations were produced.
George Proud, CEO & co-founder at Gendo, commented: “Mainstream generative image platforms can be really impressive, but they simply aren’t fit for purpose when it comes to a sector like architecture and design. In our industry, detail and precision is everything. Gendo has been designed specifically for these professionals; we’ve built an AI platform that speeds up design work and allows creativity to flourish.”
Gendo can take 2D drawings, sketches or text prompts and turn them into intricate, realistic visualisations. Each prompt generates a range of options for users to choose from and, unlike mainstream generative image platforms, the visualisations generated on Gendo can be edited. Sections can be masked and tweaked, as well as specific details such as colours, lighting or structural features added or taken away.
A range of features built specifically to cater to the needs of architects and designers can also be leveraged to get the details of each visualisation exactly right. For example, architects and designers will also soon be able to add details such as era-specific furniture, people in culturally appropriate clothing, and even topographically correct trees, at the click of a button. This makes Gendo a design tool that can be used with absolute control and specificity throughout the design process.
Mainstream generative image platforms can be really impressive, but they simply aren’t fit for purpose when it comes to a sector like architecture and design. In our industry, detail and precision is everything. Gendo has been designed specifically for these professionals; we’ve built an AI platform that speeds up design work and allows creativity to flourish.
George Proud, CEO & co-founder at Gendo
This pre-seed investment will be used to expand the capabilities of Gendo’s proprietary AI tools, accelerate the launch of new features for architects and designers, and scale Gendo’s London-based team. After a successful beta launch with a range of leading names from the architectural industry, the platform is now live in early access.
Oliver Kicks, Partner at Concept Ventures, added, “Concept Ventures are delighted to have led Gendo’s pre-seed round last year. We strongly believe that the products built by (and for) domain experts in a post-AI era can truly transform workplace productivity and deliver order-of-magnitude improvements to their daily workflows. We can’t wait to see what this great team builds next.”
Carles Reina from Baobab Ventures, commented, “George and Will represent the best founder-market-fit you can find. Not only are they experts in the AEC industry but they’ve also built & launched the best product in the market that is already being used by some of the top firms in the world. Architecture and design didn’t need stepped workflow improvements but rather a new method to enable them to do more work, more quickly whilst retaining high quality. This is Gendo.”
